That's Not a Dragon
by Blitza
Summary: Just a little one-shot based on (with permission) Dragon Courage's "Claws, Scales, and Normal Life, Or What's Left of it". What must Connor Penn have been thinking and feeling when instead of a dragon popping out of the golden egg, a human infant did instead?


It was alive. Miraculously, alive and… by far, the greatest breeding success he'd ever had. Beside him, Connor knew that Fira was just as excited as he is. Connor looked over at his wife with a smile as she leaned her thin form into his own.

She looks up at him with bright blue eyes and a wild grin.

"You did it." Fira breathed excitedly. "You saved the egg… and turned it into a gold draconium dragon!" Connor found himself nodding along more out of amazement than anything. The last twenty-four hours had been exhausting. Gathering the bone marks had been exhausting. The emotional roller coaster and fighting with Paynn had been exhausting. Now, everything seemed to finally be settling down _and_ going in the right direction. Carefully, Fira reached out to pick up the now golden egg.

"Its warm." She cooed happily. Fira gently shifted the egg to hold it as if she were cradling baby up against her Dragon Flares red jacket. Connor's wavering attention jerked back to the egg in his wife's arms.

 _Chirp!_

The egg wobbled in Fira's arms.

"Oh! I think its hatching!" Fira gasped out. Jerkily, she laid the egg back on the hatching nest. The egg glowed brightly and shook a little more. Jagged cracks appeared from the top of the egg and tumbled down the round slope of the egg. Connor leaned forward in excitement as a few small pieces of golden eggshell flew off. From inside the hole, Connor could see something dark moving around. A gurgle of sound reached Connor's ears and he frowned. He had never heard a baby dragon make that sound before. It sounded more like…

A large piece of the egg fell away at the infant's prodding and Connor got his first look at the golden dragon within… or, what was supposed to be the golden dragon.

Instead of gold scales and bright, glittering eyes, Connor found himself looking at the pale, soft skin of a human infant. Black hair topped the baby's hair and blue eyes peered at the two dragon breeders in excitement. The boy (for it was a boy) gurgled in excitement at the two of them and waved his arms happily.

Connor found himself staring in shock at the infant. His wife had no such compulsion.

"He's so cute!" Fira gasped out and quickly lifted the baby into her arms. She caringly wiped away the egg fluids from his face and peered excitedly into baby blue eyes.

"Oh Connor, look at him! It's a little boy! A baby boy!" Fira raved excitedly.

"But… that's not a dragon…" Connor mumbled in shock. He continued to stare at the baby held in Fira's arms. It sneezed.

"Oh, you poor thing! Are you cold? Here." Fira cooed. She shrugged her red, Dragon Flares crew jacket off and wrapped the boy snugly with it.

"Fira. That's supposed to be a dragon." Connor finally managed to form a coherent sentence. At the reminder, Fira briefly ceased her infatuation with the… newly hatched human.

"I know… maybe it was an effect of the bone marks?" She asked as she frowned down at the baby in concern.

"Maybe, but even so, they should never have been able to do this." Connor waved his hand vaguely towards the baby. Fira looked up at her husband before frowning. She looked away.

"What is it?" Connor asked, well able to read Fira's tells.

"Connor, do you remember, back when you were reading up on young and adolescent gold dragons… you mentioned the text was strange." Fira murmured hesitantly. Connor blinked.

"Why… yes. I remember. It talked about gold pups as if they were… human." Connor breathed as he looked back to the black-haired baby. "The scripts on adolescent dragon talked about… shifting. I always assumed the texts were discussing bringing out the gold wings, but the wording was always so strange."

Fira nodded as she gently rubbed the baby's back. It cooed at her and stuck a thumb in its mouth.

"The Dragon Booster was said to be the balance between Dragon and Human. What if it was more… literal?" Fira asked. Connor sucked in a shocked breath.

"A dragon capable of assuming human form." The priest murmured. He gently took the baby from his wife. The infant grinned up at him with his gums and gave a joyful coo. "If that is the case…" Connor trailed off uncertainly. He was trained and prepared to take care of dragons. Not human babies.

"We'll raise him." Fira decided. Connor jerked his head up.

"What?" He asked.

"We'll raise him as our son. Its not like we can treat him like a dragon pup. He'll need a lot more care than that. Besides," Fira's voice softened as she continued. "We've been trying for a while. I can't… I can't turn away a baby now that its been dropped in my lap." Her free hands circled around her waist and Connor found himself immediately nodding. Fira and he had been trying for children for years now. It was understandable that she would latch on to the first infant that fell in her lap. And really, what else could they do? Fira was right; they couldn't treat the child like a dragon pup and human babies required a lot of love and attention.

"What are you going to name it?" He asked. Fira grinned.

"I think I'll name him Artha."

Connor sighed.

It was supposed to be a dragon.

* * *

This is a oneshot based on both the never animated Episode 0 and on my twin's, Dragon Courage's, fanfic, Claws, Scales, and Normal Life, or what's left of it. It was fun to write and I'm glad Dragon Courage is letting me play around on her playground. Enjoy.


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